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Saturday, October 15, 2011

Bhutan Royal Wedding!

The Bhutanese royal wedding happened on Thursday morning local time. King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk married his sweetheart Jetsun Pema and then she was crowned Queen of Bhutan. The outside view of the ceremony, streamed live by the Bhutan Broadcast System, mostly looked like this:

Not really the sharpest image although there was one moment of clarity about every minute. I watched for a couple of hours then went to bed. The next morning, I caught up with what had happened by way of some in depth photo articles and video reports. This one is via MSNBC:

The day after the wedding, the King and Queen walked almost the whole distance from Punakha (the old capital) to Thimphu (the current capital). The roadside was lined with well wishers who were yearning for a glimpse of the bride and groom. It took the royal party 14 hours to travel the 71 km. Apparently, the King did not want to miss anyone. Keep in mind this is a mountain road, not a flat one. Thank goodness they are both sporty! Here's the scene in Thimphu as crowds wait for the couple to arrive on foot.

The celebration continued today with an enormous public event at Changlimithang Stadium [I previously wrote about the stadium here].

Check back later because I'll be posting about the CLOTHES. Love those traditional clothes!